Summer Water

Spending summer on the east coast means I get to take advantage of being much closer to friends and family than I have in the past five years. It means multiple trips to NYC to visit my sister—she lives in Queens! And last week, my cousins were in LBI to add to the fun. Life has been feeling pretty abundant for the past few weeks. There really is something to having a close, familiar community around you, without having everything be so new all the time. I’ll keep that in mind when I’m cuddling koalas and feeling homesick in Sydney this fall (spring?).

During our first visit, we ate ice cream and watched the live-action Lion King. And I was like, “I drove all the way to NYC just to watch The Lion King?” But, you know, sister time is valuable. The second visit was a little more extra special. We went to yoga in Astoria:

And then, to the Rose Mansion.

What in the world is the Rose Mansion? You might be wondering. Well, it’s like a wine tasting mixed with one of those new pop-up Instagrammable art museums. I feared it would be silly and tacky with long lines to take photos, and it had a little of that, but actually it was semi-educational and very fun!

Each room had a different part-of-the-world theme and a presenter to teach us about pink wines from that region. We took a lot of photos, learned a little about rose, drank a little more of the rose, and played dress up. Are there better ways to spend a sisters’ day in NYC? I think not, but feel free to send ‘em to me!

We had postponed our brunch til later in the afternoon, but we got to stop at one of Elayne’s favorites which happens to be Aussie themed (Citizens). We walked along the water until it was time for her to catch a ride out of Manhattan and for me to meet my friend for teeny tiny tacos and happy hour (Taco Dumbo).

My friend Mike—he lives in Sydney—was playing a show on the Lower East Side, and I remembered that Liz lives only minutes from there. So we all met up for the show, but a night in NYC does not end there… It ends, appropriately, at the House of Yes at 4 in the morning. Or maybe at a bodega deli with the best Italian sub. And it leaves you with a pounding head for the drive home the next day.

Sisters in California: The rest!

I’m sorry to tell you, but most of the glorious highlights of our trip stopped after Yosemite. It was a boring drive back on the 5, however we adjusted the plan and went west to Santa Monica so we could at least enjoy a bit of beach time and our last donuts (some of my all-time favorites). After that, it was hard to keep my mind off the cross-country move that would be taking place TWO DAYS LATER. I forced Elayne to come with me to get my oil changed, which she did not really enjoy, but we did try a yummy coffee shop in Atwater Village. But then we walked over a mile in sweaty summer LA sunshine, so win some, lose some, ya know?

We tried to go bowling, and unfortunately there was a two hour wait, so we could only eat tacos. (Note to self: reserve your spot for the bowling before getting the tacos.) Then that was that. I brought Elayne to the airport and packed my car up to leave the very next day.

What a trip, though! I’m glad we could pack so many awesome activities (and donuts) into our week together. Until next time… maybe in another five years?

Sisters in California: Yosemite!

Anything I have to say about Yosemite seems very minuscule when compared to the beauty of the place itself. Our hostess was a true park expert, and she gave us great advice for planning the day, not to mention preparing a delicious and above-and-beyond breakfast in the morning. The park was crowded, of course, on a Sunday in summer, but it didn’t hinder our explorations at all. We parked at the far end of the village loop, rode the shuttle back in, and started by hiking the Mist Trail.

As we were climbing up the stairs and getting drenched by the waterfall, we saw a lovely little rainbow. iPhones are all waterproof now, right?!

After our hike, we rode the shuttle back to the car and drove up to Glacier Point. The views were breathtaking! I’ve been to Yosemite twice before (once as a baby), but this time felt like a whole new experience.

There was a little bit of traffic, and it takes a while to drive around the park at any time, however with these views we certainly didn’t mind. We added an extra hike in at the end by taking the Sentinel Dome trail. At the end of the day, we were glad to have taken the extra two miles, because it was much less crowded and offered similarly incredible vistas to Glacier Point.

Sisters in California: Day 4

After our few days of fun in LA, it was time to head up the coast for further adventures. Maybe I should have organized the itinerary a little better so that we didn’t do the bulk of our driving on a Friday, but of course, hindsight’s 20-20.

We left early in the morning so that we would have time to make a few stops. First, we checked out Solvang, a sweet little Danish that seems straight out of a storybook.

And you know we had to find more donuts! Nothing to see here…

After a long drive and a bit of traffic delay, we made it to Napa and our tasting reservation slot at Domaine Carneros. Elayne had organized this portion of the trip, but I’m always happy to sit by and sip sparkling wines on any Friday afternoon.

This vineyard ended up being our favorite in Napa.

After the tasting, we checked into our fancy hotel—a little too fancy for the amount of time we were able to spend in it, but still a nice escape from LA. We drove into the nearby town of Yountville for pizza and, obviously, more wine. When in Rome…

Sisters in California: Day 3

It’s nice to have a visitor in LA, so that you can do all sorts of touristy activities that you might not necessarily do on a normal day. Like take a Warner Bros. studio tour:

And hang out around Batmobiles:

I think this was the day we made waffles for breakfast at home using my mini waffle maker. And went to yoga. And were there donuts, too? There probably were.

At night, we met a few friends for dinner at Grand Central Market, a good option for visitors since it’s casual and everyone can get something different. We opted for mango beers and Thai food. Elayne rode a Bird scooter for the first time. Then it was time to get home and rest up for our big weekend adventure…

Sisters in California: Day 2

Wednesday had to be one of the best California days I’ve had yet! We woke up early to eat breakfast at my number one neighborhood haunt, Kitchen Mouse. Then we hiked up to a secret swing in Elysian Park.

I think we must have had donuts, too, since that seemed to be the theme of our trip.

After that, it was time to get ready for the wine safari. You heard that right. In Malibu, you can visit a farm/winery where they will drive you around in a safari bus to visit a giraffe, zebras, alpacas, etc.

Of course we paid extra for a meet and greet with Stanley the Giraffe. It was the highlight of our trip.

Look at that tongue! I think the animals are more of the draw than the wine at this particular wine safari, but the grounds are lovely to walk and ride around. And the sun came out exactly at the start of our tour.

When the tour was over, we likely needed something to absorb the booze, so we decided to revisit one of the stops from our first California sister’s road trip five years ago, Neptune’s Net. It was just as good as we remembered, though we probably didn’t need to eat this entire plate of fried seafood right before dinner, but we’re on vacation, right?

We stopped at Point Dume on the way back to take in some gorgeous views of the coast. Then it was back into the city for dinner. I wasn’t doing it intentionally, but I realized I’d added mainly vegan restaurants to the itinerary. My sister and I aren’t vegan, but the options here are just that delicious!

Oh yeah, of course while we were in WeHo, we had to stop and see some more “famous walls of LA”. Here’s the one whose fame shocks me the most. But, when touristing, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Sisters in California: Day 1

My sister, Elayne, landed at 10am last Tuesday, so, most appropriately, I met her at the airport with donuts and immediately brought her to take pictures in front of all the fancy, brightly-colored walls in Los Angeles. Just kidding, but not really…

We ate breakfast at my favorite Venice breakfast place, and I thought we would spend the day at the beach because I forgot it was still June and how LA gets very sad, cloudy, and rainy at this time of year. It was too cold and not exactly sunny vacation weather, but no matter; we strolled around to the Venice canals instead.

Yup. Did you know that Venice has peaceful little canals just like Italy? They don’t have any gondolas to hire, but apparently you can bring your own paddle boat or stand-up paddle board and use it at your leisure.

We walked the boardwalk after that and saw a pretty OK but also pretty drawn out street performance. It was still too chilly to enjoy the beach, so we had a snack and took a pretty nice and necessary yoga class to work off the donuts and said snack before dinner.

Dinner was at THE BEST RESTAURANT, The Butcher’s Daughter. Have you been there yet? They have one on the east coast and the west coast, so New York or California, no excuses. You have to go!

Although it was a little chilly to our liking—especially since Elayne has been working in a hectic veterinary internship all year and hasn’t seen the sun or light of day in a while—we made the most of things and had ourselves a nice west side day. Nevertheless, we were still crossing our fingers for some sunshine later in the trip.